Method and system for the management of files and mail attachments

ABSTRACT

The present invention is directed to a method and system for the management of files and mail attachments. A method for managing files that have been received by a user as an attachment to an e-mail in accordance with an embodiment of the invention includes: detaching a file from an e-mail and storing the detached file; creating a system file link with the detached file that includes details relating to a storage location and an identity of the e-mail from which the file was detached; and re-establishing a link between the detached file and the e-mail in response to a request of the user to locate the e-mail.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to the management of files and mail attachmentsparticularly in a computer related environment.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Computers, workstations or other related computer devices have a largeamount of storage capacity. In the current environment the storagecapacity is often utilised to store attachments from e-mail or the like.The attachments are generally stored in a section of memory under asuitable file name associated with, for example, a document,spreadsheet, presentation, etc.

In general, a user receives an e-mail with attached files. The file isoften detached and stored as mentioned above and later the files areremoved from the e-mail to minimise mailbox storage space. The result isthat there is now no linkage between the file and the e-mail. The useris not able to determine who sent the file and when and any otherdetails in the e-mail which may be relevant.

Occasionally, with time and effort in searching or a bit of luck, theuser can re-establish the linkage between a file and the e-mail it wassent in or attached to. However this is not always the case.

US 2005-0052692 A1 discloses a system where a file is detached from ane-mail and can then be found by clicking an icon in the e-mail. When thefile is detached an entry is created in a document reference file. Thisfile is then accessed when the icon in the e-mail is clicked. Thisprovides a mechanism for ensuring that file that was detached from ane-mail can be rediscovered.

It is not quite so straight forward to find the e-mail from which a filehas been detached therefrom. E-mails are more transient and are oftenmoved from one folder to another. The present invention addresses theproblem of finding an e-mail from which a file has been detached.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a method and system for themanagement of files and mail attachments

A first aspect of the invention is directed to a method for managingfiles that have been received by a user as an attachment to an e-mail,the method comprising: detaching a file from an e-mail and storing thedetached file; creating a system file link with the detached file thatincludes details relating to a storage location and an identity of thee-mail from which the file was detached; and re-establishing a linkbetween the detached file and the e-mail in response to a request of theuser to locate the e-mail.

A second aspect of the invention is directed to a system for managingfiles that have been received by a user as an attachment to an e-mail,comprising: a system for detaching a file from an e-mail; a system forstoring the detached file; a system for creating a system file link withthe detached file that includes details relating to a storage locationand an identity of the e-mail from which the file was detached; and asystem for re-establishing a link between the detached file and thee-mail in response to a request of the user to locate the e-mail.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features of the present invention will be more readilyunderstood from the following detailed description of the variousaspects of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings.

FIG. 1 is an illustrative schematic drawing of a mail tool and anoperating system in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of an illustrative method in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring initially to FIG. 1, an e-mail 100 is received. The e-mail 100is sent to a user 1 from a user 2. The e-mail 100 includes a subject,date, a message and an attached file 110.

In the normal course of work or practice, the e-mail 100 and attachedfile 110 may become separated. This is often the case when a user has alimited amount of storage space. In this situation, the attached file110 is detached 120 and stored in a known memory location. At the timethe attached file 110 is detached 120, the e-mail 100 is stored in aknown memory location 130. The known memory location 130 of the e-mail100 is stored in a detached documents link reference 140 associated withthe detached file 120.

The detached file 120 includes an icon 175 which can be selected toenable re-establishment of the link to the e-mail 100. This permits theuser to find the e-mail 100 which carried the detached file 120 by justclicking on the icon 175 and thereby opening the e-mail 100 from theknown memory location 130.

A daemon 150 acts to poll the detached documents link reference 140 andcompares this with the known memory location 130 of the e-mail 100continually. Thus, if the icon 175 is clicked the daemon 150 reads thedetached document link reference 140 and opens the e-mail 100 stored inthe known memory location 130. The detached document link reference 140can have various fields, which are recognised by the daemon 150 and usedto establish the above mentioned linkage. The fields can include, forexample:

-   -   Key (e.g. 19xy);    -   Document name (e.g. presEBOD.ppt);    -   Document full path (e.g. C:\EBOD);    -   Deleted flags (e.g. Y, N);    -   Mail database (e.g. C:\user1\mail); and    -   Mail ID (e.g. CB1234567).

It is common for the memory location 130 of an e-mail 100 to change dueto re-organising or re-prioritorisation of the mail box. In FIG. 1, forexample, the new location of the e-mail is shown as 160. The daemon 150detects that the e-mail 100 has moved and the detached documents linkreference 140 is updated. A new mail database reference ID and mailreference if necessary are stored which correspond with new location 160of the e-mail 100.

If the user clicks on the icon 175 (as previously described) of thedetached file 120 the daemon 150 will now seek the e-mail 100 in the newlocation 160.

The location 130 of the e-mail 100 and the location 120 of the detachedfile 120 can be changed at anytime by the user. When this happens thedetached documents link reference 140 will be updated by the daemon 150.

Referring now to FIG. 2, a flowchart of the process steps of the currentinvention are set out.

An e-mail is received at step 200. Step 205 determines if there is anattachment. If “no”, the system awaits the next incoming e-mail. If“yes”, step 210 determines if the attachment is to be detached. If“yes”, the attachment is detached and stored and the detached documentslink reference file is updated in step 215. The step of detaching theattachment may occur after the e-mail has been opened many times or maybe opened at the first time of opening. Regardless of when thedetachment step occurs, the mail may be marked to indicate that anattachment has been removed. The current e-mail stored location (e.g. inthe form of mailbox database ID and mail reference ID) is stored at step220. It will be appreciated that different fields may be used instead.An icon is created at step 225 in the attachment that has been detachedwhich includes a key to the detached document link reference. The iconcan be clicked by the user to facilitate the link from the file to thee-mail if the e-mail has not been deleted. If the e-mail is moved, thenthe detached documents link reference is updated at step 230.

A user opens the file attachment at step 235 and determines that theattachment has an icon indicating that the file was once part of ane-mail. The user makes a determination at step 240 as to whether or notthe user needs to know anything about the e-mail. If “no”, the processstops at step 245. If “yes”, the daemon is quizzed to identify thee-mail location at step 250. A determination is then make at step 255 tosee if the identified e-mail and e-mail location can be found. If “no”,the user receives an “e-mail not found” message at step 260. If “yes”,the e-mail is opened at step 265 and displayed to the user at step 270.In this way, from the e-mail, the user can thus determine who sent theattachment, when, and for what purpose.

If the e-mail is moved from one storage location to another the e-mailis still located in the same manner, but the location stored in respectof the attachment will be different.

While the invention has been particularly shown and described withreference to a preferred embodiment, it will be understood that variouschanges in form or detail may be made therein without departing from thespirit and scope of the invention.

1. A method of managing files that have been received by a user as anattachment to an e-mail, the method comprising: detaching a file from ane-mail and storing the file; creating a system file link with thedetached file that includes details relating to a storage location andan identity of the e-mail from which the file was detached;re-establishing a link between the detached file and the e-mail inresponse to a request of the user to locate the e-mail; monitoring achange in the location of the e-mail; and updating the system file linkwith a new location of the e-mail in response to a change in thelocation of the e-mail.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:opening and displaying the e-mail to the user.
 3. The method of claim 1,further comprising: continually monitoring the location of the e-mail toenable the re-establishment of the link.
 4. The method of claim 1,further comprising: including additional information in the system filerelating to at least a file location and name of the detached file. 5.The method of claim 1, further comprising: including an icon with thedetached file; and selecting the icon to re-establish the link betweenthe detached file and the e-mail.
 6. The method of claim 5, furthercomprising: displaying the e-mail in response to the selection of theicon.